    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 27 (Monday, July 14, 2008)]
    [Pages 973-975]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks to the White House Press Pool in Toyako

    July 9, 2008

    G-8 Summit and Major Economies Leaders Meeting

        Thank you all very much. We've just finished our meetings here in
    Japan. I would call them very productive.
        Our goal was to make progress in five key areas: confronting climate
    change; reinforcing our commitment to a successful Doha agreement;
    fighting disease in Africa; ensuring that the G-8 nations are
    accountable for their commitments; and addressing the challenges of high
    food and energy prices. I'm pleased to report that we've had significant
    success in all of them.
        On climate change, I want to thank the Prime Minister for hosting
    today's meeting of leaders from the world's major economies. In order to
    address climate change, all major economies must be at the table. And
    that's what took place today. The G-8 expressed our desire to have a
    significant reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. We made it clear and
    the other nations agreed that they must also participate in an ambitious
    goal, with interim goals and interim plans, to enable the world to
    successfully address climate change. And we made progress, significant
    progress, toward a comprehensive approach.
        One way to meet objectives is to invest in technology, both at the
    national and international levels, both through the private and public
    sectors. And the United States, Japan, and United Kingdom launched
    what's called a clean technology fund, and we hope Congress funds that
    effort. It's a way to help developing nations afford the technologies so
    that they can become good stewards of the environment.
        We're also taking steps to promote clean technologies by cooperating
    on research and development. You know, I firmly believe that we can
    become less dependent on oil through new technology, and obviously,
    we're going to have to spend some money on research and development to
    be able to achieve that objective.
        On other matters, the G-8 leaders emphasized the critical importance
    of concluding a Doha round. We want the world to trade

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    freely. We want to make sure markets are open for agricultural goods and
    manufacturing goods and services. We also recognize that the best way to
    help alleviate poverty is through trade. And so we had good discussions
    over the past couple of days about successfully completing the Doha
    round by the end of this year.
        We also made some progress on alleviating sickness in Africa. The G-
    8 committed $60 billion over 5 years to fight HIV/AIDS and other
    diseases. I'm also pleased to report the G-8 leaders pledged to provide
    100 million long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets by 2010 to help
    deal with malaria. As you know, the United States has been in the
    forefront of trying to help nations eradicate malaria, and the G-8
    nations stepped forward to support our efforts. And I appreciate that
    very much.
        We also committed with partner nations in Africa to train new health
    care workers--can't solve health care problems unless there's health
    care workers on the ground. And the United States is involved with that.
    And finally, we are working to expand our efforts to treat key neglected
    tropical diseases, with the goal of reaching 75 percent of victims in
    the most affected countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America within 5
    years. [Inaudible]--we had a comprehensive agenda on helping those who
    are being affected by disease live healthy lives.
        I've always believed, to whom much is given, much is required. The
    nations sitting around the table have got much, and I think we're
    required to help those who don't. Pledges are important. Those have
    been--you know, oftentimes in the political process people talk big, but
    they never follow up. And so one of the key ingredients of these recent
    meetings was all of us need to be reminded that when we say we're going
    to do something, we got to do it. And so accountability is an important
    part of fulfilling our obligations.
        We agreed to release detailed reports on our progress in meeting the
    commitments, breaking down our efforts, country by country, disease by
    disease. This, of course, will help ensure the G-8 initiatives are
    measurable and transparent, so that we're held accountable for the
    promises we make.
        And finally, we agreed on steps to deal with hunger and high energy
    prices. We agreed to meet short-term food needs by providing emergency
    food shipments and increasing access to fertilizer and seeds and
    encouraging other nations to eliminate their export restrictions. We
    also agreed on steps to relieve hunger in the longer term, including
    working to double production of key food staples in several African
    countries, accelerating access to new agricultural technology such as
    new seed varieties developed through biotechnology. We're also seeking
    to increase the amount of food aid supplied by local producers. In other
    words, instead of the United States just simply giving food, we ought to
    be buying food from local producers so that they can develop their own
    agricultural industries, so to help deal with world hunger.

        We also agreed that on high energy prices--look, we got to deal with
    both on the supply and demand. On the supply side, oil and production
    refining capacity need to be increased. And the United States needs to
    do its part. The Democratic leaders in Congress will not allow us to
    explore for oil and gas in parts of Alaska, offshore America, and now is
    the time for them to change their mind. We also--I'm firmly--believe
    that we can do this kind of exploration in environmentally friendly
    ways.

        On the demand side, we agreed to take new steps to increase energy
    efficiency, and we agreed that fuel subsidies that artificially inflate
    demand should be eliminated or reduced.

        In other words, this was a--you know, a lot of meetings on important
    subjects, and we accomplished a lot. By protecting our environment and
    resisting protectionism and fighting disease and promoting development
    and improving the daily life for millions around the world, we serve
    both our interests as Americans, and we serve the interests of the
    world.

        We've enjoyed our stay here in Japan. I want to thank the Prime
    Minister once again for his grand hospitality. And I appreciate you all
    covering this summit. Thank you very much.

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    Note: The President spoke at 4:22 p.m. at the Windsor Hotel Toya Resort
    and Spa. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of
    Japan.